Month: January 2017

South KoreaClean up and dress up! How you present yourself is very important in Korea!Potential partners can be met at club activities or arranged meetings with people from other universities or majors. (dating within your major is rare – might get awkward if you break up)Confession is direct and may be from either party – girl or boy!Matching clothes and couple jewelry are big. PDA is ok!Celebrate anniversaries such as 100 days, 6 months, etc.Couples always out and about on dates – dating is more active! (not much Netflix and chill)If you break-up, that’s it! No such thing as relationships breaks in Korea!If you see this relationship resulting in marriage, don’t anticipate living together before then! It’s rarely done in Korea.ChinaGet to know potential partners through studying together ...

(Peter Kim, Emily Laur) The custom of gift giving is significant due to the representation of interpersonal relationships in Asian cultures. In Asia, the meaning of individual gifts can represent signs of respect, lasting friendships, and longevity or bad luck, severance of relationships, or death. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore are examples of countries in which gifts are especially prominent and the rules of etiquette behind the practice of gift giving most important. This article will focus on gift giving practices in China and Korea. In China the significance of gift giving comes from the Confucian values, more specifically those of maintaining harmony with one’s family, friends, colleagues, and society....

By Winston Xu & Cirl Lee In Asia, hobbies are very similar to those in the U.S., with some surveys showing populations spending the same average amount of time on these activities. Some differences include the addition of karaoke, tai-chi, or a focus on different sports, such as ping-pong, badminton or cricket. However, in some of the more traditional families, there is a negative association with “leisure” activities. In addition, activities are viewed differently by countries. One example is that studying or learning seems to pop up regularly under activities to be done for fun in one’s spare time. The idea is that even during free time, one can still find some way of being productive/improving one’s self.One aspect of leisure time that differs slightly in East Asian countries is ...

By Emily LaurChina’s rapid accumulation of wealth in the past few decades has made waves in the international community. Despite the country’s leapfrog to the position of second largest global GDP in 2010, the United Nations’ Statistical Annex still regards China as a developing country, meaning China’s economic rise is not over. Even now China is regarded as a challenger to the United States’ influence in the international arena, most recognized in terms of economic strength, military potential, and development ideology. Being aware of this fact, a principle objective of China’s Asian neighbors is to avoid having to choose an alliance with only Washington or only Beijing. China’s development and, by association, its potential global influence has resulted in the emerging “China threat”...

Chinese Higher Education (Zoraida Hu, Yuxi Wang) With a booming economy fueled by technological growth, China has indubitably become a quintessential participant in the globalized world. Each year, millions of Chinese students enroll into different Chinese higher education institutions, and the enrollment rate is increasing every year. The increased size of the educated population has generated significant changes in China’s economy. As stated by Weifang Min in his article Chinese Higher Education, higher education has been valued as a part of Chinese society since 1100 B.C. Overall, the system of higher education developed slowly under the feudal and authoritarian society of ancient China. Confucius’ education model rose in popularity during feudal times since students’ thou...